Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

This year we celebrate the fact that the Bible became available to the majority of ‘common’ people. The King James or the authorised version of the Bible was translated from the original languages by 47 scholars over 7 years, from 1604 and finally printed in 1611. It was organised and commissioned by the king although he had neither part nor lot in the translation. This authorised translation has influenced many people over time, including playwrights such as Shakespeare and countless poets and sages and orators. Its influence has spread far and wide across the colonies occupied and influenced by Britain. Today there are still many denominations who still read from the ‘kings James Bible’ and decree that any other version is not the word of God.

It was a masterpiece and the translators consulted other translation present at the time to produce a version of the Bible in English that was accurate using the language of the day. As language changes over time, so does the meanings and emphasis of certain words. So let us remember that words such as: ‘overseer’ and the emphasis of ‘slaves being obedient to their masters’ were translated in the light of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade being part and parcel of Elizabethan Britain.

Today remember that although the word from God remains forever, our words convey different meaning at different stages of our development as humanity.